How to get youngsters interested in STEM? Borrow robots from local library?
banjo
Posts: 447
As a background, I'm since today working as an educator & tech lab support at our local university of applied sciences. I'll be mainly teaching computer science related subjects and project management to the becoming engineers.
Right before going to another appointment, my new boss gave me a vague task: The university would like to donor a few of "something" to the city library to hopefully raise more interest in STEM in youngsters around ~12-16 years. This would be one step in trying to secure that we have enough students (and the right ones) also in the future. This "something" would ideally be available for loans, similarly as books. Next waypoint for those still interested would be the local Makerspace community.
If you (or your kids) would be able to borrow "something STEM-related with proper start instructions and online material" for 2-4 weeks from a library, what could it be?
A robotic arm, a rover, ...?
How to program it, from own PC/tablet/phone, what language?
I don't want to put too many constraints as of now, but obviously this "something" would need to be sturdy enough and have as few pieces as possible (i.e. forget separate resistors, leds etc.).
Looping @"Ken Gracey" as well
In addition to hopefully solving this task, I'll try to sneak in some Propeller-boards into the tech lab, in addition to all the rPi's and Arduinos :-)
Right before going to another appointment, my new boss gave me a vague task: The university would like to donor a few of "something" to the city library to hopefully raise more interest in STEM in youngsters around ~12-16 years. This would be one step in trying to secure that we have enough students (and the right ones) also in the future. This "something" would ideally be available for loans, similarly as books. Next waypoint for those still interested would be the local Makerspace community.
If you (or your kids) would be able to borrow "something STEM-related with proper start instructions and online material" for 2-4 weeks from a library, what could it be?
A robotic arm, a rover, ...?
How to program it, from own PC/tablet/phone, what language?
I don't want to put too many constraints as of now, but obviously this "something" would need to be sturdy enough and have as few pieces as possible (i.e. forget separate resistors, leds etc.).
Looping @"Ken Gracey" as well
In addition to hopefully solving this task, I'll try to sneak in some Propeller-boards into the tech lab, in addition to all the rPi's and Arduinos :-)
Comments
-Phil
Thx Phil, S3 is one alternative. If possible I'd like to support Parallax, but I need to be open for other manufacturers as well. E.g. iRobot has similar Root rt0 and rt1 robots (https://store.irobot.com/default/root/irobot-root-rt0/RT00020.html).
Nice to have would be possibility to use Python or MicroPython, but that unfortunately drops out Parallax as of now, though I've understood MicroPython is under construction for P2
Yes, it is not really parallax, and not really code or digital, but there is no shortage of that. I used to think that code is a good avenue, no shortage of things to write for, but the real world is analog. If one wants to really rule the electronic world, become scary good with analog and all that that means. Anyone can hack code, build digital to a point, but seriously, to encourage someone to go down the math path to be really good at analog? That's accomplishing something.
Kids have smartphones, tables, laptops, desktops, and the Internet and its wealth of "how to's" and most of all they have it all prepared for them in the way of apps, and even apps to write apps.
The thing is that I know people who have always had servants do anything and everything and while they live a life of privilege, they didn't learn any useful life skills at all, they are totally dependent upon the servants and would be lost without them. So too, the younger generation is dependent upon "servants", the technology doing it all for them. There is no motivation needed nor required nor forthcoming. Kid uses an app to write an app and is hailed as a "Genius computer whiz-kid". Another kid tries to blink an LED and is viewed as a failure.
I don't know of any kid at all that is motivated enough to find out more. Are there any on this forum? Well, actually I remember one local lad whose dad used to motivate him to build bots that he entered in mouse maze contests etc. Dad though did practically all the mechanicals etc but he did use a Prop chip and I helped him out with parts etc. I wonder what happened to him?
Just checked - he is founder and CEO of EANTE. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for me to contact him and find out what he thinks would get "youngsters"
A train of BOE-Bots or ActivityBots with the leader under Remote control would be another attention grabber.
What about RoboCup robots, any experience from that type of robot?
Continuing to brainstorm with myself, what about some robot arm or similar being used to solve the Tower of Hanoi?
Let the ideas flow!
Great idea, perhaps a couple of S3's following each other?
I'm still thinking about the SumoBot WX competition kit as teaching the robots to fight might be exciting for the teens. Once assembled, perhaps there are no loose parts? Any experience from this new kit yet?
... and Sphero products, e.g. Sphero RVR https://sphero.com/collections/for-school/products/rvr
Kids AND adults are absolutely MESMERIZED by them. Many people think my black line (I use electrical tape) is magnetic and it just blows their mind... "how does it know to follow the line?" I used to fight it, but it's a consistent winner. IMO the fact that there are just a handful of components on the PCB chassis is tantalizing. Everything is in plain sight and it looks so simple that people aren't intimidated. No coding, no processor, just two hardware comparators and switching transistors. Kids like to race the robots and try to fool them by moving the tape/line. If your company wanted to donate several soldering irons and a few dozen (or hundred) kits, I'm sure you could captivate a lot of kids and spark their interest in electronics and robotics. It's a great first "learn to solder" kit and there are many Youtube videos showing how to build these:
High schools are using these, letting kids "race" their line followers:
They work well in their stock configuration, and many hacks are possible to improve speed/performance.
An article of mine details some hacks:
http://servo.texterity.com/servo/201707/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=9#pg9
Not high tech, but very doable for all ages and IMO a great gateway into our world. Blinking LEDs FTW!
Anyone has any feedback about the new SumoBot WX?
Then, 1 by 1 the rest of the letters will be diminished to only allow for Art.
This is what happened in Walsenburg, CO - who have a STEAM-based art gallery - but no STEM.
CSU-Pueblo is going down this path.
STEM is leading people to Art - not science, technology, engineering & math.
I'm sorry, but this is what I have experienced.
https://www.onlinecomponents.com/blogpost/257-post-lockdown-uk-promoting-engineering
https://www.onlinecomponents.com/blogpost/258-umass-launches-new-engineering-diversity-program
https://www.onlinecomponents.com/blogpost/256-where-have-all-the-engineers-gone
Interesting have found as mentioned above that the younger generation may see STEM subjects as too hard - schools are not capturing the imagiation but maybe the recent Space X and our highly tech world may change this.
IOW, the inclusion of Art in STEM education does not diminish it but, rather, enhances it.
-Phil
That may be true for your class, but if you look at the Art & Slime supplies at Walmart - and also see a lack of science kits, then you may understand what is going on.
Something has diminished when finding a place for people to excel in science. In the long-term, STEAM is being used to undermine math & science learning - and supplant it with Arts. Simply to drag the lowest common denominator along. One by one, it will become SEAM, then SAM, then MA, then A.
Hasn't anybody seen the movie Idiocracy? In regards to STEM to STEAM - it doesn't take 500 years to dumb down the population.
A search on Walmart.com for "stem kits" loads more than 1,000 hits, including a bunch of stuff by Parallax. Same with Amazon.
When the #1 and #2 retail entities in the USA are absolutely brimming with STEM gadgets, a conspiracy is hard to conjure.
Just as an aside, there used to be a place called Kiddie World off SanThomas and Stevens Creek back in the day. Probably was a good toy store, but what I remember was a section that would have made Edmund Scientific proud!
Seems to me like reading is implied, but someone felt the need to make it official and lengthen the acronym.
I say lets add Health for good measure.
SHTREAM, anyone? Yessshhhhh, that's what she said.
reading, riting and ritmetic...
Mike
And we decided to try... drumroll please ... Scribbler S3 x 2! Unfortunately not direct from Parallax though, due to the only available shipping option (UPS) would've costed $262. Mouser Europe got the business from us this time.
Now we'll continue to search for some type of robust RPi-based (or similar) platform where only certain pins would be available for use, probably with a separate breadboard or similar hiding away the RPi itself. The idea is that library/makerspace visitors would be able to try a few different simple circuits (e.g. led, servo, temperature sensor...) and program them in Python. While the S3's could be borrowed home, the RPi-platforms would stay in the library.
If anyone has some ideas for the RPi-platform, let them come!
Hopefully the link to the YT video works. Sorry for the shakiness, did not have time to charge the battery for a proper video cam.
Edit: Duh, don't click on the red YouTube play button to link/embed a video. Just paste the YT link as plain text to embed the video, or add it as a link with the link button.
Easy is it? Perhaps, not according to my logic though.
next step: Pen lifter with servo.
cool,
Mike
Anyhow, this is not very highly prioritized now
Solenoid would work well if done right.
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/138538/advanced-s2-pen-lifter-kit
https://learn.parallax.com/tutorials/robot/scribbler-robot/hacker-port-expansion/standard-servo-pen-lifter
https://forums.parallax.com/discussion/153091/how-to-use-the-hacker-port-inside-the-scribbler-2-to-control-a-servo
From Rich that gives us the beautiful P2 enclosures:
You can buy or provide them with all the needed equipment and instructions, and it will go unused if their friends aren't interested in it, and possibly they won't pursue it due to peer pressure, and will pursue the peer pressure things.
I know one youngster who did exactly this, and only pursued the programming language his friend was making a game with. But that never goes far because his friend only talks about it and tries to get him interested just for bragging rights. "look what I did, but i won't teach or help you do it, and next time we meet i will brag more about what i did"
Its a hard thing to do when you are dealing with peers, so try to get a group of young people involved and you might find a bit more success at STEM.
I purchased a youngster a blocky prop starter kit, and myself, so I could teach them, they weren't interested because their friend insulted it and them over it.
Self driven interest is really a big need to make things happen, they can have all the equipment, teachers, and resources all at their fingertips, and it all can be destroyed by their peers. This is why educators need to pay attention to students attitudes, comments, bullying, and peer pressures almost more than the educational materials. And come down very hard on those that do this, suspensions.
Once you make it clear that will not be tolerated at all, then it will pave the way for peer pressure to take a back seat to interest and curiosity.
Games are a good way to get them interested, so integrating minecraft with real world actions, like having a real switch be able to trigger a minecraft switch, etc... Games were the first thing I was interested in, then I had to figure out how to get more memory in dos to run a better game.... etc...
Money works too, candy, snacks... etc. lol
But fortunately my wife teaches at what some people call "the refugee school" where kids come from families that have entered as refugees, so English is not their primary language. Most of these kids start out fine as they have that respect, but then mixing with the wrong friends and taking in antisocial attitudes, and all that gets flushed down the drain. They in turn infect other kids, just like covid19 does, so you can't blame or punish the kids, or patient zero, blame the virus. Without that respect you can't teach them, they have too much attitude but really are totally freaked and need to and have to look cool to their peers. Who did that? The virus stemming from this me-first society and culture, not the kids.
If you don't tolerate other views and opinions and then speak and take action against those ones, then who is actually the intolerant one? There is no way in the world that everybody can think totally alike and have the same views and opinions. I even have a twin brother that thinks and acts totally differently. Who draws the line and where? But this so called tolerant society ends up tolerating disrespect and anarchy in the guise of righteous intolerance to intolerance. Accountability for actions, not thoughts and opinions.
I have tried to help many young ones over the decades and I had one very very bright boy that I gave an old scope to and other equipment as well as boards and parts and tried to involve him in some projects for teaching purposes. Alas, while he does very well with all kinds of HLLs, he just doesn't have that embedded programming desire embedded in him. Sure, he will code up an RPi to interface to a phone app, and implement a database, but that is about as embedded as it gets.
Now that I've said that, there is a huge huge difference between this Internet generation of kids and all those that came before. Before the net if we wondered about something, then it took a lot of effort to find out about it, and in the process we learn, and learn "how to learn". It's like feeling hungry in the middle of the night, but back then you couldn't tap your app to get Uber Eats to deliver Korean BBQ chicken at midnight, you had to either continue yearning for it, or make it yourself or whatever.
Kids today are not hungry like that anymore, nor yearning. The Internet has delivered a huge gushing waterfall of information and help and so the kids never go information hungry and in the process never yearn to know, or develop that drive that has driven all the generations before it. So the Internet is a blessing, and a curse.
There are some kids that do have that drive. Why? If we find that out, it may help. We have all the information, all the equipment, all the help, we just need the drive. Maybe something like a hands-on workshop competition where it's just the kids themselves, not anybody else, that get to show what they are capable of when put on the spot and driven by a goal. But besides the cooperation of schools, you have to have some big carrot there, and besides a title, and an award or trophy, you would have a prize that would involve STEM gear to drool over, and a trip and guided tour to "Parallax Land" for the winner and some runner-ups. Make that a yearly competition so they have a continual goal.